Scouring pad holder



June 30, 1970 P. B. STEPHENS SCOURING PAD HOLDER Filed Jan. 20, 19s? INVENTOR.

23* ATTOENFX United States Patent 0 3,517,406 SCOURING PAD HOLDER Paul B. Stephens, Hotel Carlos, Room 308, 3834 N. Sheffield Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60613 Filed Jan. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 610,640 Int. Cl. A471 17/04 US. Cl. 15--209 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shallow concavo-convex one piece body of sheet material with two concentric rows of integral hooks at the concave face pointing radially inwardly. The hooks of one row alternate circumferentially with those of the other. There are no non-radial hooks and no hooks with points directed other than inwardly. The inner hook bases are closer to the outer hook points than to the body center. The body periphery is at the bases of the inner hooks. The outer hook points line in a plane normal to the body axis and the inner hook points in a parallel plane closer to the body.

This invention relates to a detachable holder for scouring pads, such as conventional household steel wool scouring pads and the like.

As is well known, gripping of such pads by the fingers for manipulation during scouring is objectionable in that the steel fibers tend to penetrate and break off under the skin. Furthermore, the pad when so gripped tends to lose its shape and become pulled apart into a number of small fragments. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a detachable holder which can readily be applied to such pads and detached therefrom when the pad has worn out, and which prevents the fragmentation of the pad.

Conventional steel wool scouring pads, as presently sold, are generally lenticular in shape, and being somewhat thicker and more compact at the center than at the margins.

The holder of the present invention can readily be attached and detached to such a pad and, when attached, will fixedly retain the pad in operating position, will maintain the pad in relatively thick compact condition, and will prevent spreading and tearing apart of the pad. The holder is so arranged that marginal portions of the pad, when supported by the holder, extend beyond the periphery of the holder and are engaged by lateral shoulders on the holder in a manner which facilitates pressing the marginal partions of the pad into corners and places difficult of access.

The holder is simple and so inexpensive that it can be marketed as a disposable item or given away as a premium; for example, a holder with each box of pads.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the drawings hereof wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the holder;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the holder illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing, diagrammatically, a scouring pad and the position of the holder preparatory to connecting it to the pad; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration similar to FIG. 4, showing the holder and pad in assembled relation.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the holder comprises a body, indicated generally at 1, having at one face a plurality of hooks 2 and 3. In the form illustrated, the hooks are arranged in two rows extending circumferentially about the center of the body and being spaced apart from each other radially of the body. In the drawings the hooks 2 are dis- 3,517,406 Patented June 30, 1970 posed in the outer of the rows and the hooks 3 in the inner of the rows. These hooks, regardless of the row in which they are disposed, are preferably integral with the body.

Referring to the hooks 2 as typical, each hook 2 is connected at its inner end or base to the main portion of the body and preferably forms an integral continuation of a portion thereof. Each hook 2 also has a free end portion 4 which extends part way of its length outwardly away from the one face of the body and for the remainder of its length is curved back inwardly edgewise of the body with its free end 5 spaced from the one face of the body and forming the point or entry portion of the hook 2. Each hook 2 is concave toward the center of the body.

Between the base and point of each hook and near to the point, is an intermediate portion which is spaced farther from the one face of the body than the remainder of the hook and presents a smooth slide surface 6 facing away from the one face of the body. The surface 6 is adapted to engage a surface scoured, should it come in contact therewith because of the pad wearing through during the scouring operation, and to slide thereon smoothly so as not to mar the surface and so as to prevent the sharp point or entry end of the hook from scratching the surface.

The free end portions forming the points 5 of the hooks 2 are curved slightly back toward the one face of the body from the intermediate slide surface 6, thus assuring not only that the point of the hook will not engage the surface under normal conditions and use, but will also more firmly dig into and grip the pad as the body is moved edgewise parallel to the surface being scoured during the scouring operation. The hooks 2 are preferably uniformly distributed circumferentially of the body, as also are the hooks 3.

The hooks 2 have shoulders 7 which face outwardly edgewise of the body between their bases and the slide surfaces 6. The shoulders 7 are such that when a pad is gripped by the holder and manipulated edgewise over a surface to be scoured, these shoulders can engage the marginal portions of the pad which are disposed outwardly edgewise of the body from the hooks 2 and which tend to, curl up around the outer edge, and thus buttress the turned up margins of the pad for forcing it against side walls and into corners and the like.

The hooks preferably are formed integral with the body and the body preferably is stamped from a single stiff piece of sheet metal. The stamping is such as to leave long radial finger portions which are formed into the hooks 2 by bending over the outer ends thereof, and shorter radial finger portions between the longer ones and alternating therewith which are bent to form the inner fingers 3.

The body 1 preferably is concavo-convex, preferably in the form of a spherical segment, the hooks 2 and 3 being at the concave face. The concavity permits a thickened central portion of the pad to be engaged by the body for applying pressure thereto normal to the face of the body, while providing a pocket which permits better engagement of the hooks with the pad and prevents lateral shifting of the pad during the scouring operation.

The body is preferably smaller in radial extent than the pad to be engaged so that enough of the margin of the pad remains outside of the outermost portion of the body or hooks 2 to curl up around the shoulders 7 for scouring side walls at their intersection with the main surface and for reaching into corners. The hooks 2 are disposed at the ends of the relatively elongated finger portions which also facilitate reaching into corners. The inner row of hooks 3 preferably are of the same design as the hooks 2 and disposed between the bases of the adjacent hooks 2. Whether the body is made concavoconvex or not, at least the outer smooth slide surfaces of the outer hooks 2 should be farther from the one face of the body than corresponding surfaces of the inner hooks 3, so as to better receive and accommodate the central portion of the pad P.

While a body of sheet metal is preferred, some of the benefits can be obtained by making the body of plastic, the body and all hooks being molded as a unitary structure.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, it is apparent with the pad lying on a flat surface, the holder may be connected readily by placing it on the center of the pad P and pressing it downwardly forcibly so as to engage the pad firmly, and then moving the holder back and forth edgewise slightly a number of times in several intersecting directions parallel to the plane of the surface. As mentioned, and as illustrated in FIG. 5, after the pad has been installed and used for a short period, a marginal portion of the pad, indicated at P tends to curl up around the shoulders 7 of the outer row of hooks 2, and the pad out wardly from these shoulders 7 can readily be forced by the shoulders into corners and portions of the pans and the like which otherwise would be difficult to scour because of lack of any means for applying pressure on the pad edgewise of the pad and body.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. A detachable holder for fibrous scouring pads and comprising a relatively rigid shallow concavo-convex onepiece body of stiff sheet material;

said body having pointed hooks integral at their bases therewith and disposed with the hooks at, and in spaced relation to, the concave face of the body;

each hook having a free portion extending, endwise of the hook, partway from its base toward the point of the hook outwardly generally edgewise of the body and then curving away from the concave face and then back inwardly edgewise of the body toward the center thereof for the remainder of its length so as to lie at the same side of the body as the concave face;

each hook being concave toward the central axis of the body and having its point spaced from the concave face, said hooks being arranged in two circumferential rows which are spaced apart radially of the central axis of the body;

the hooks of each row being distributed in circumferentially spaced relation to each other about the central axis with the hooks of the inner row alternating circumferentially of the axis of the hooks of the outer row;

the inner end of each hook extending radially of said axis; and

said body being free from non-radial hooks.

2. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the body is in the form of a shallow substantially spherical segment.

3. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the indi vidual hooks of the outer row are arranged each with its base at the periphery of the body and each hook of said outer row has a radially outermost face portion between its base and its point extending in a direction at an abrupt angle to the concave face of the body, and said outermost face portions provide reinforcing shoulders facing outwardly in a direction edgewise of the body and positioned to lie inwardly from the outer periphery of an engaged scouring pad.

4. The structure according to claim 1- wherein the points of the hooks of the inner row are spaced in a direction axially of the body, from the points of the books of the outer row so that lateral distortion of a pad, due to the engagement thereof by the hooks of one row is not restrained by the pressure on the pad applied by the hooks of the other row, whereby all of the hooks can enter the pad without interference one with the other.

5. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the junctures of the bases of the hooks of the inner row with the periphery of the body are closer to the points of the hooks of the outer row than to the central axis of the body.

6. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the bases of all of the hooks are substantially equidistant from the center of the body.

7. The structure according to claim 6 wherein the tips of the points of the outer row of hooks terminate radially close to the bases of the hooks of the inner row.

8. The structure according to claim 6 wherein the points of the inner row of hooks are substantially equidistant from said axis, and the points of the outer row of hooks are substantially equidistant from said axis.

9. The structure according to claim 1 wherein the points of said hooks are slightly recurvant toward the concave face of the body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 656,301 8/1900 Pfeiffer 401207 X 895,551 8/1908 Gaylord 401--207 X 1,118,989 12/1914 Wolf 15-23017 2,629,890 3/1953 Di Giovanni a- 15-209.51

FOREIGN PATENTS 148,055 9/ 1931 Switzerland.

WALTER A. SCI-IEEL, Primary Examiner L. G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner 

